No fears for Sporting's Bento

Coach Paulo Bento insisted he was "not worried about" who his Sporting Clube de Portugal side will face next after booking their place in today's UEFA Cup quarter-finals draw.

Single goal
A hard-fought 1-0 home win on Thursday gave the Lisbon giants a 2-1 aggregate victory against Bolton Wanderers FC, leaving them with a chance of bettering their 2004/05 UEFA Cup achievement when they reached the final only to lose out on home soil to PFC CSKA Moskva. "It was a good result," said the coach. "We were better in attack in the second half and I think we deserved to win by a two-goal margin. Our opponents didn't have a single chance so the tie was never at risk. We were very strong in defence during the entire game. I'm not worried about who our next opponents are."

'Happy and proud'
Sporting have had their troubles in domestic football this season and are fifth in the Portuguese Liga, trailing leaders FC Porto by a massive 20 points. European success has given Bento something to be pleased about, with the coach saying that he is "happy and proud" with their progress to the last eight, a feat in part down to full-back Abel, who helped blunt Bolton's attacking ambition. "It was very important not to concede," said the defender. "We improved a lot in the second half and we deserved to win. We are dreaming about reaching the final and that's what we will try to do."

Bolton deflated
The dream of a short trip to the City of Manchester Stadium for the final is over for Bolton, and Gary Megson's side must now focus on avoiding relegation back in England. "I just hope Bolton show the same attitude as tonight in the Premier League," he said, adding: "Sporting have a lot of talent and I hope they can win the UEFA Cup because that way we would have lost against the eventual champions."